SOPHOMORE SHOW WILL INCLUDE MORE EXHIBITORS

BARBARA MURRAY

GREENFIELD, Mass. -- The Organic Trade Association's 2002 All Things Organic Conference and Trade Show, slated for May 8-11 at the Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas, will include more exhibitors than last year's show, which was the OTA's premiere show.

There is more variety this year, including frozen food and HIPP, one of the largest producers of baby food, from Pfaffenhofen, Germany, according to Holly Givens, a spokeswoman for the OTA.

"We are trying to make sure there are workshops for everybody in all sectors of the industry," Givens said.

An international pavilion will feature buyers and suppliers of organic products and services from around the world. Companies from Argentina, Austria, China, England, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Sri Lanka and Switzerland are slated to take part in the BioFach America Pavilion, created under an agreement between OTA and Nurnberg Global Fairs of Germany.

Michael Neuwirth, a vice president of Walnut Acres, New Rochelle, N.Y., said several executives of the company will attend the conference and view the trade show, but not exhibit.

"We want to be supportive, as members of the OTA, but we thought it was better to participate this year as a conference, where we got a more significant value than as a trade show," he told SN.

In addition to national organic standards, conference sessions will include such topics as new organic labeling, organic scientific research, organic fiber use, the organic consumer, a primer on going organic, conservation practices, keeping organic food safe and staking out shelf space in the supermarket aisle.